Samurai Cave Town.

Zhao Han felt very helpless, what a rich commercial market town, and there was no city wall to cover it, why didn't Zhang Xianzhong divide his troops to fight?

As long as he captures the Wujia Cave, Zhang Xianzhong will be able to grab a lot of food, because this is Zhao Han's military food transfer station!

Zhao Han himself, with 2,000 personal guards, 3,000 Jinling peasant soldiers, a large number of local peasant soldiers, and 500 artillery soldiers, has been nesting here. Li Zheng's 7,000 regular troops, riding mules, cruised around, and immediately rushed back when they saw wolf smoke. On the other side of the Yangtze River, 60,000 peasants and soldiers and 60,000 people have basically completed the reorganization and can cross the river at any time, just waiting for Zhang Xianzhong to fight the Wujia cave.

Alas, since Zhang Xianzhong didn't come, he could only take the initiative to surround him.

Hunan Army——

Jiang Dashan led 30,000 peasants and soldiers and 30,000 people to cross the river from the public security and directly take Zhang Xianzhong's old nest Jiangling!

Li Zongheng led 30,000 peasant soldiers and 30,000 people to cross the river from Jiangxia and take Hanyang Mansion directly. (Li Zongheng is a soldier brought by Li Banghua, who has made many military exploits in Southern Jiangxi, and has performed outstanding in suppressing bandits in Guangdong and Fujian.) ）

Jiangxi troops——

Jiang Liang and Xiao Shan first took a boat to Huangqikou Town and used this town as a military station and a grain station.

Jiang Liang led 40,000 peasant soldiers and 40,000 people to immediately cross the river and attack Qizhou.

Xiao Shan led 20,000 peasant soldiers and 20,000 people, and Gu Jianshan led the water division to help, crossing the river and attacking Qishui County along the Xishui River.

Especially the sailors of Gujian Mountain, small and medium-sized warships came out together, stuck in Xishui. Even if Zhang Xianzhong can jump out of the encirclement, he can't think of crossing the river from Xishui, he can only go into Dabie Mountain and go back to his lair.

Even if Zhang Xianzhong can go back to his lair, he will find that his lair is under attack.

In addition, Huang Qi's newly built mountain division had already begun to cross the river to attack Yiling, and Zhang Xianzhong's major cities along the river were all attacked.

Thousands of miles of the Yangtze River, you can't prevent it.

It can only be said that Zhang Xianzhong is crazy, so he will take the initiative to provoke Zhao Han.

But from Zhang Xianzhong's point of view, he has no choice at all. The road to Sichuan was blocked, and he forcibly captured Sichuan, and his lair could be attacked by Zhao Han at any time. Go north to Shaanxi or Henan, where there is a serious famine, and it is useless to fight down. In addition, if we do not make a desperate bet in advance, there will definitely not be enough food to send troops in the next six months.

Zhang Xianzhong only had three choices, either lie down and die, or submit to Zhao Han, or fight hard.

……

Yiling (Yichang).

Huang Qi was the first to cross the river, in fact, there was also Zhang Xianzhong's defenders in Guizhou (Zigui), but there was no need to attack in Guizhou.

Huang Qi only has a mountain division of 7,500 people, and there are 10,000 people engaged in logistics.

After the landing, they set up camp on the first day and shelled the second day, and by the way, let the people fill the moat.

The stone city wall, more than seven meters high, was built by Zhu Yuanzhang at that time.

There is nothing to say about this battle, Zhang Xianzhong took away too much food and soldiers, the Yiling defenders only had 1,000 elites, and the remaining 3,000 were all soldiers.

When the food was not enough to hold on for a long time, and with the continuous shouting of the missionary officers, the 3,000 garbage soldiers fled one after another at night. Even if Zhang Xianzhong's 1,000 elites defend it, they can't hold such a big city, and even fight and cause infighting.

After Huang Qi captured Yiling, he selected some peasant soldiers from the people to defend the city. He took the main force and went down the river by boat to help Jiang Dashan encircle Jiangling.

……

Jingzhou Prefecture, Jiangling County.

This is where Zhang Xianzhong's base camp is located, with 12,000 soldiers stationed there, and there are eight antique-grade bronze cannons on the city wall.

"How's the battle going?" Huang Qi asked when he came.

Jiang Dashan sighed: "I can't move, the city is too high, the pool is too deep, and there are too many soldiers." It was useless to persuade them to surrender, there were many old thieves among the defenders, and the families of these old thieves were in the city. ”

Huang Qi asked, "Why don't I go to fight other cities first?" ”

"There's no need," Jiang Dashan said, "According to the news from Xizuo, the thieves from all over the country have been taken away by Zhang Xianzhong, and the other cities can only be defended, and it is impossible to send troops to reinforce this place." Dividing troops to capture the city is also a hard fight, and you have to leave troops to garrison after the fight, which does not help the entire battlefield. As long as Jiangling is surrounded to the death and Jiangling is gnawed down, the states and counties next door will all have to surrender to the wind. ”

Huang Mi pouted and said: "With so many defenders, if there is enough food, Jiangling will have to fight for at least half a year." ”

Jiang Dashan sighed: "No wonder Zhang Xianzhong took the initiative to go to war, he raised too many soldiers." Take a few armies to fight Anhui, and you can still leave these many soldiers to defend the cities along the river, how much food you have to consume on weekdays! Facing a major drought this year, if he doesn't fight out, he will have to starve to death! ”

Huang Qi thought for a while: "I took a boat to Qizhou, where troops should be needed." ”

Inside Gangneung Fortress.

Liao Zhifang sat on the city tower, looking at the Datong army outside the city, and could only sigh secretly.

Two years ago, he suggested that Zhang Xianzhong lay off troops in Tuntian, quickly establish a system, and develop people's livelihood, and Zhang Xianzhong did obey at that time.

But it quickly turned sour!

Zhang Xianzhong did not trust the civilian officials, and sent his son and confidant generals to grasp the military and political affairs of the various prefectures under his jurisdiction, and directly became a typical warlord rule.

Zhang Xianzhong himself is a big warlord, and his righteous son and henchmen are small warlords.

Since he is a warlord, he must not distinguish between public and private.

These generals not only wantonly encroached on people's land, but also moved all kinds of grain from the military and people's tuns into their own private treasury, and the civilian officials could only look stupidly and did not dare to speak.

Moreover, the policy of reducing troops has been completely abolished, and in order to enhance their own strength, the generals have completely disregarded the people's livelihood and frantically expanded their armaments.

Zhang Xianzhong could not stop his generals from expanding the army, and once he forcibly blocked it, there would inevitably be contradictions.

Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong chose to go to war, to a large extent, he was also coerced internally. If he doesn't pick a place to fight outside, his subordinates are likely to start infighting, and they will fight themselves in order to grab territory.

Under the sunset, above the castle tower.

Liao Zhifang opened "Datong Collection" and reread this book many times.

Every time I reread it, combined with my recent encounters, Liao Zhifang has new insights. He believes that some chapters of this book contain the supreme principles of heaven and earth, and instead of violating Confucian teachings, they follow and practice Confucian morality.

Facing the army outside the city, Liao Zhifang actually wrote an article titled "Zhang Xianzhong's Ten Defeats".

This time, Liao Zhifang and Xu Yixian, the two military divisions, were resolutely opposed, but Zhang Xianzhong was already difficult to ride.

Now, Liao Zhifang is sitting in Jiangling, and Xu Yixian is sitting in Hanyang, and they seem to hold the power of the two cities, but in fact, they can't command the army at all, let alone surrender the city.

……

Yongji.

"King, there is a report in the rear, Qizhou and Qishui are surrounded, and the Jiangxi Navy Division blocks the Xishui River!"

Zhang Xianzhong seized the detailed Tang report, read it carefully twice, and said to the generals under his command: "Qizhou and Qishui are each besieged by tens of thousands of enemy troops. ”

Sun Kewang sighed and said: "The main force of the enemy, going around the rear of our army, has blocked the retreat of our army. ”

Zhang Xianzhong shook his head and said: "Outside the two cities, there are peasant soldiers and people, and the main force of the enemy army still hasn't appeared. ”

The crowd was horrified.

Since Zhao Han was on the other side of the Yangtze River, they were already familiar with the Datong military system, and they could clearly distinguish between regular soldiers and peasant soldiers.

From the very beginning, Zhang Xianzhong lost the initiative in the war.

Perhaps Zhao Han's command ability in battle is insufficient, but his strategic command ability is very clever. And from beginning to end, it has always adhered to the same philosophy: you hit yours, I hit mine.

According to the regular way of fighting, Zhang Xianzhong's three-way army went east, and Zhao Han should dispatch a large army to meet the battle, looking for an opportunity to annihilate the enemy's main force before counterattacking.

The imperial court suppressed bandits in this way, and Zhang Xianzhong thought the same way.

As long as Zhao Han puts on a large army, Zhang Xianzhong can play countless tricks. Because Zhang Xianzhong and his generals have more than ten years of experience in the war, while the generals of the Datong Army are very immature, it is very likely that they will make mistakes and seize the opportunity.

In that case, the Datong army will be led by the nose.

Zhao Han knew very well what the situation of his generals was, so he didn't accept it at all.

Your army is coming?

Then I'll enter the army too!

You come to my territory, and I am strong and clear, waiting for you to attack the city.

You are slowly attacking the city here, and my peasant soldiers are also slowly attacking the city at your house.

Moreover, my regular army is hiding and will not move, and will settle the general account when you are tired.

Do you want to retreat?

I'm sorry, but the two cities behind you are all surrounded by me, and the river you have to cross to withdraw your troops has been blocked by my sailors.

If you want to kill the whole army, you can also fight my peasant soldiers. My regular army can support me by boat at any time, and the peasants and soldiers in my Guangji city can also come to support me slowly.

If you are desperate, you can kill me in the hinterland where there are no strong walls. Kill so deeply, there is not a single city of your own along the way, you just wait for the whole army to be destroyed!

Zhang Xianzhong was extremely aggrieved at the moment, he had an army of 100,000 and 190,000 people left, but he didn't know where to smash his fists.

Lao Huihui kept calm: "I have two methods, I don't know if you listen or not." ”

"Say it." Zhang Xianzhong said.

Lao Hui replied: "The first way, the more than 70,000 foot soldiers are gone, and the 190,000 people are not needed." Cavalry, horses, and mules crossed the river north against the mountains. ”

"Why don't you lead the army to White Lotus Town and cross the river against the edge of the mountain?" Sun Kewang asked.

Lao Hui said: "Zhao Han's sailors are in Xishui, and they must send a large number of small boats to post sentry throughout the Xishui River. If you take an army of 300,000, even if you are not discovered by the sentry boat, you will be followed by Zhao Han's cavalry, and everything will be over if you attack halfway. ”

Zhang Xianzhong sneered: "What's the use of only bringing cavalry, horse teams, and mule teams back?" If we throw the army to Zhao Han, our troops will be empty, and the territory will be swallowed sooner or later. ”

Lao Hui said again: "Then don't want your family, don't think about going back, take 300,000 people, go all the way to the north to kill, maybe you can join the North Route Army, maybe you can help the Middle Route Army break through!" ”

"Fighting like that is equivalent to rootlessness, and if there is a slight accident, the whole army may be wiped out at any time." Zhang Xianzhong shook his head and said.

Lao Hui said: "If there is an accident, I will take the elite and wander around and turn the land of Jianghuai upside down!" ”

Sun Kewang said depressedly: "Isn't it that he has become a rogue again? I don't want the territory, I don't want my family, I am coerced and robbed along the way, where I fight, and I live until I live. ”

"Until now, you still want to save the army and withdraw intact?" Lao Hui said speechlessly.

Sun Kewang clenched his fists and said: "Father, the child thinks that he should withdraw the army with a swagger, lure Zhao Han's main force to appear, and fight with real knives and guns." Whoever wins, wins the world; Whoever loses, see Hades! ”

Lao Hui's two strategies, one strategy was to flee back with cavalry, horses, and mules, and the result was bound to be a long life. Another strategy is to gamble, if you win the bet, you can withdraw from the north, and you can loot along the way, and if you lose the bet, you will become a rogue again.

Sun Kewang's strategy was simple and rude, that is, to set up a tough position, and the initiative was handed over to Zhao Han. The winner is king, and the loser dies!

Zhang Xianzhong was undecided.

"King, a tunnel has been dug through, and the defenders in the city have not found it!"

Zhang Xianzhong stood up suddenly: "Immediately detonate the explosives, don't wait until the night to be flooded again!" ”

No matter how you fight, first capture Guangji County, this city will disgust Zhang Xianzhong.

(Ask for a commuter pass.) ）